CHESTER — On a night that resembled a pick-up game at a local playground more so than a professional soccer contest, it’s only fitting that the deciding goal was ripped from the playbook of schoolyard hijinks.

Off the rarely-seen free kick in the box due to a handled back pass by the Chivas goalkeeper, Michael Farfan roofed what proved to be the game-winner for the Philadelphia Union in the 78th minute, giving the home side a come-from-behind win, 3-1, at PPL Park Friday.

It wasn’t anything practiced — situations like that arise far too infrequently to devote key training time to it. So the decision came down to the soccer instincts of one person, and he knew exactly what he was doing.

“I think it kind of just happened, and we knew they were going to have pretty much their whole team in the goal, and I figured the only place it could possibly go in or the best chance of going in was above their heads and under the crossbar,” said Farfan, who notched his first goal of the season. “I pretty much set out to do that, and luckily it worked.”

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It was the first time this season that the Union (8-6-6, 30 points) had come from behind to win a match, doing so with the resilience that has become this team’s hallmark. The fact that it came in such adverse conditions against the Western Conference basement-dwellers Chivas in essentially a can’t-lose situation gave it added importance.

Brian Carroll had earlier drawn the Union level in the 58th minute off a corner kick glanced on by Conor Casey, and Casey finished the deed in the 88th, adding an insurance tally to prevent the Union from squandering more points from a leading position.

Farfan’s goal came off as bizarre a set of circumstances as you’ll see, even for a team like the Union that has developed a reputation for hectic finishes. One of several scrums near the goalmouth in the water-logged conditions was blown dead by referee Jorge Gonzalez, who originally appeared to signal for a penalty.

Instead, he judged that Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy had handled a back pass from a defender in the box, calling for a free kick on the edge of the six-yard box. It was a decision that, plainly, you don’t see every day.

“It’s been a while,” said Carroll when asked the last time he saw the call. “I think it’s happened once or twice in my professional career. I remember it happening a lot when I was growing up.”

Making matters even more chaotic, Chivas defender Josue Soto was shown his second yellow card for contacting Gonzalez, earning him a red and the gate. Chivas simultaneously subbed on defender Bobby Burling, but midfielder Edgar Meija didn’t immediately leave the field, trying to sneak an extra man on for the crucial set piece.

Order was restored, and Meija was shown the sideline. But the meantime was put to good use by Farfan, who knew what he had to do, mentally and physically.

Sebastien Le Toux touched the ball into his path, and Farfan made no mistake, sneaking it under the bar and over the onrushing Chivas defenders.

“You could tell right away that Michael said, ‘Hey I’ve got this. If you just put it where I can, I can put it in the roof,’” said Union manager John Hackworth, who was ejected from the game minutes earlier for arguing what he thought was a clear handball on Soto that went uncalled in the box. “And he did. He aimed it perfectly. He’s a great player that way. He’s got excellent technique.”

“I think we just kind of saw where it was located, and I told him where I wanted it, and he played it there,” Farfan said. “I was pretty confident. I just knew they were going to come rushing out so I just put it over their heads. I just needed to make sure I didn’t put it over the bar, that I put it on target.”

The assist was Le Toux’s second of the day and his MLS-leading ninth of the season.

It was about time the Union took advantage of the conditions, which Carroll simply termed “annoying.” They led directly to Chivas’ goal in the 14th minute.

With the Union dominating possession, Amobi Okugo slipped trying to mark winger Jorge Villafana on the edge of the 18-yard box. That allowed Villafana to slip in, and when Zac MacMath came out to challenge, Villafana rolled a ball to Jose Correa at the top of the six that the forward slotted home into the yawning net.

“It reminds you of when you’re little kids and it gets rainy and you’re just playing in the puddles instead of playing soccer,” Okugo said of the conditions. “Credit to the guys playing in the conditions, making no excuses, and helping me out.”

The 2-1 lead and man-advantage created the exact same situation as two of the Union’s last three games: Up a goal and a man, only to squander the lead. This time, it was different.

Substitute Fabinho, making his MLS debut, got loose down the left wing in the 88th minute and crossed a ball into the path of Casey, who took a touch and fired a shot across the face of Kennedy’s goal, leaving the goalkeeper defenseless.

Just a little more resilience, then.

“It’s just disgust over those results and potentially learning from them,” said the captain Carroll. “Really, it was just mentally sticking through it and making sure that it wasn’t going to help it again.”